chris [9:58 PM] He didn’t have tiny old people coming out of a paper sack and chasing him

chialynn [9:58 PM] That’s a good way to put it, George.

cathschaffstump [9:58 PM] Agreed.

chris [9:58 PM] it didn’t commit 100% to what it wanted to do

cathschaffstump [9:59 PM] Yup.

chris [9:59 PM] the army conspiracy has no heft because there’s no consequence

george_galuschak [9:59 PM]it kept introducing new elements, so it didn’t play fair.
there’s no way to figure out what’s going to happen

chris [9:59 PM] well it’s kind of about someone being disoriented, so I didn’t mind that

cathschaffstump [9:59 PM] I am thinking of Hero, which told the same story 5 times, each time in a different color, but it got through one iteration of each version completely before it jumbled things up.

george_galuschak [9:59 PM] it seems to me that other movies have sort of imitated some of the elements of this movie

chialynn [10:00 PM] Oh, definitely!

cathschaffstump [10:00 PM] However, Chris does have a point about the disorientation.

george_galuschak [10:00 PM] which is why it gives the appearance of being sort of dated

chris [10:00 PM] but Novy is right, Lynch doesn’t have someone come right out and say, “She’s a failed actress from a small town who is terrified of disappointing people back home”

cathschaffstump [10:00 PM] Again, that morphine feel.

cathschaffstump [10:00 PM] Drugs. The seventies. All about them.

chris [10:01 PM] it’s weird, I remembered it being more freaky. But really, there’s about 10 minutes total of semi-surreal imagery

chialynn [10:01 PM] The battle injuries are pretty gruesome.

george_galuschak [10:01 PM] I think it’s more effective if you’ve never seen it and don’t know what’s coming

george_galuschak [10:01 PM] the disorientation is intentional

chris [10:02 PM] true

cathschaffstump [10:02 PM] I’d never seen it.

george_galuschak [10:02 PM] me neither

cathschaffstump [10:02 PM] Work for you?

chris [10:02 PM] a LOT of movies have trotted out the “someone is dying or dreaming” trope in the intervening 30 years

george_galuschak [10:02 PM] sure it’s an interesting movie. since it’s a mainstream movie they sort of had to attempt an explanation, which Lynch doesn’t have to do bc he’s Dave Lynch

chris [10:03 PM] there are a lot of bad movies in this vein. It’s so easy to just cheat and come to the end and wrap up with “it doesn’t make sense because it was a hallucination”

george_galuschak [10:03 PM] this movie could also be about mental illness

cathschaffstump [10:03 PM] So maybe it would have been better if they’d gone artier.

george_galuschak [10:03 PM] or PTSD

chris [10:03 PM] yeah

george_galuschak [10:03 PM] I mean, there’s a lot of interesting elements there. they maybe try to do too much

chris [10:04 PM] I didn’t realize until you said that, George, but Mr. Robot uses a lot of the same tricks to portray mental illness

george_galuschak [10:05 PM] extremely unhinged people might experience the world like that, but it wouldn’t make as much sense

george_galuschak [10:05 PM] he could have committed suicide in that tub the ‘fever’ could be a bunch of drugs or whatever he could have been hit by that car

george_galuschak [10:05 PM] this movie is all about dying the death imagery is repetitive and unrelenting they hammer you with it

chris [10:07 PM] they could have afforded to be a little more subtle

chris [10:08 PM] but like Chia said, the tropes weren’t that well known then

george_galuschak [10:08 PM] the problem is, all that imitation has diluted the waters

chris [10:08 PM] I think so

cathschaffstump [10:09 PM] That is a problem with watching the first of something years later.